Personally i am a strong believer that GW2 will walk the middle of the road. While there will be no FFA PvP the dynamic events should give players a real sandboxy feeling, and character building should allow for much more freedom then the usual skill tree progression.
Do you think that GW2 can satisfy the average Joe sandbox fan?
FFA PvP is not a requirement of a sandbox MMO. I dont know where people get this silly notion that a MMO must have FFA PvP in order for it to be consdered a sandbox.
If companys would understand that PvE is what makes a game great then as my sig has stated for 2+ years now, the first one to make a PvE sandbox will garner the sub numbers of a WoW, and GW2 will be as close to a AAA sandbox as anything in the last 12 years.
Thats your opinion in my opinion what makes a great MMORPG is FFA PVP with territory control, player housing, plus a really good PVE system. PVE alone is pretty boring. People have different tastes and thats the way it is, me i love the thrill of FFA PVP with full loot, just brings somthing else to the game.
Anyway GW2 is not going to e a sandbox game in anyway, I will still give it a go as the origional GW was not too bad for what it was + no monthly subs..
So the bottom line is: sandbox is freedom of choice. (To you.)
What is RPG to you?
I don't mean to provoke, it just seems the definition of some of these terms differ from one person to the next.
Hmm, as an old rpg dog I'd say that role playing is a type of a game where you control a particular imagined character whose capabilities are determined by game rules. This is different from psychotherapeutical or theatrical role-playing even though even there are some rules. If you play switch-roles with your shrink then you are still required to stick to those rules.
The thing is that the term "role-playing" is older than computer games and you could argue very meaningfully that Super Mario and even Space Invaders were role-playing games because you did control a single character and his story.
However, computer RPGs grew to mean simulations of pen-and-paper rpgs. That was a long time ago and many computer RPGs created their own rule systems which couldn't be used as pen-and-papers. It's a conundrum really. Nowadays a RPG computer game means simply "a game where you control a single main character who has some stats differentiting him from other characters." With this definition Super Mario and Space Invaders are not RPGs but an FPS where you improve and tweak your stats is. And no, being sandbox or themepark has nothing to do with it.
That's my take on what a "computer RPG" game is. It is not so much of a genre as many see it, but a game design element that can be used in various genres.
I share your opinion. Furthermore, isn't the role or the character you play, made with the decisions you make? RPG is at least to me character development on a personal level and freedom of choice. The choices you make affect your surroundings temporarily or permanently.
Hence, if you decide to participate in a DE or not, may change how the event evolves. If you want to explore the world, you can do so, but it has nothing to do with sandbox, but roleplaying. You learn about the world you live in and immersive yourself in that world - become part of it. Games these days are either interactive movies or interactive books. While interactive movies draw you into the experience by blockbuster-style animations, interactive books become alive in your head through text you read and shape the world in your head.
RPG's usually rely on many written pages to tell stories from the world, to make people imagine things themselves and not chewing pieces of the story for the player. Stories become alive in the head of the player and make the game (if it's good) a long lasting experience players remember. People remember things they recreate much longer than scenes they sey with their eyes.
This is getting slightly offtopic, but I am not talking about quest texts that try to make fetch quests more interesting, but texts that tell a story through fetch quests.
Moving on, by that description GW2 is nothing like a sandbox. It's a good rpg, which ANet wants it to be, because your choices do affect the game world for you and other players aswell.
Comments
So the bottom line is: sandbox is freedom of choice. (To you.)
What is RPG to you?
I don't mean to provoke, it just seems the definition of some of these terms differ from one person to the next.
Thats your opinion in my opinion what makes a great MMORPG is FFA PVP with territory control, player housing, plus a really good PVE system. PVE alone is pretty boring. People have different tastes and thats the way it is, me i love the thrill of FFA PVP with full loot, just brings somthing else to the game.
Anyway GW2 is not going to e a sandbox game in anyway, I will still give it a go as the origional GW was not too bad for what it was + no monthly subs..
Hmm, as an old rpg dog I'd say that role playing is a type of a game where you control a particular imagined character whose capabilities are determined by game rules. This is different from psychotherapeutical or theatrical role-playing even though even there are some rules. If you play switch-roles with your shrink then you are still required to stick to those rules.
The thing is that the term "role-playing" is older than computer games and you could argue very meaningfully that Super Mario and even Space Invaders were role-playing games because you did control a single character and his story.
However, computer RPGs grew to mean simulations of pen-and-paper rpgs. That was a long time ago and many computer RPGs created their own rule systems which couldn't be used as pen-and-papers. It's a conundrum really. Nowadays a RPG computer game means simply "a game where you control a single main character who has some stats differentiting him from other characters." With this definition Super Mario and Space Invaders are not RPGs but an FPS where you improve and tweak your stats is. And no, being sandbox or themepark has nothing to do with it.
That's my take on what a "computer RPG" game is. It is not so much of a genre as many see it, but a game design element that can be used in various genres.
I share your opinion. Furthermore, isn't the role or the character you play, made with the decisions you make? RPG is at least to me character development on a personal level and freedom of choice. The choices you make affect your surroundings temporarily or permanently.
Hence, if you decide to participate in a DE or not, may change how the event evolves. If you want to explore the world, you can do so, but it has nothing to do with sandbox, but roleplaying. You learn about the world you live in and immersive yourself in that world - become part of it. Games these days are either interactive movies or interactive books. While interactive movies draw you into the experience by blockbuster-style animations, interactive books become alive in your head through text you read and shape the world in your head.
RPG's usually rely on many written pages to tell stories from the world, to make people imagine things themselves and not chewing pieces of the story for the player. Stories become alive in the head of the player and make the game (if it's good) a long lasting experience players remember. People remember things they recreate much longer than scenes they sey with their eyes.
This is getting slightly offtopic, but I am not talking about quest texts that try to make fetch quests more interesting, but texts that tell a story through fetch quests.
Moving on, by that description GW2 is nothing like a sandbox. It's a good rpg, which ANet wants it to be, because your choices do affect the game world for you and other players aswell.